Tomatoes and basil on the third day of fall? You bet. The calendar may say summer is over, but the kitchen garden keeps to its own schedule, and mine says that tomato season is finally (finally!) in nearly full swing. The beautiful green and purple basil I've been picking since the end of June is still going gangbusters, too.

There's no better—or simpler—way to celebrate your garden fresh tomatoes and basil than to toss them with hot pasta, but adding this quick sun-dried tomato and artichoke pesto to the mix brings the dish to a whole other level.

I've made this with larger tomatoes chopped into chunks, but cherry tomatoes really work best. A mixture of red and yellow looks especially nice. I like to make this with fettuccine or farfalle (because bowties are always so much fun), but other pasta shapes would probably be good, too.
The edges of the basil start to darken pretty quickly after chopping, but I doubt you'll hear any complaints. This dish is perfect as a light main course or would go well alongside grilled beef or chicken, lamb leg steaks (I love these), or even lamb chops. Lately I've been eating it for breakfast—adding even more chopped basil when I'm halfway through.

August 2010 update: While mixing up the third or fourth batch of this quick and easy pesto, I took a cue from my favorite basil pesto recipe and added some fresh tomatoes. Yum. This new version is a little thinner than the original, with more tomato flavor and fewer calories: recipe here.

I love pestos and am a sucker for both sun dried tomatoes and any recipe that calls for canned artichoke hearts, so of course this recipe from Anna at Two Blue Lemons caught my eye.

When I got to the part where she instructs you to use LOTS of fresh basil and LOTS of cherry tomatoes—and explains how she prefers dishes that contain more 'other' than pasta—I knew I was going to love it.

I swapped the 1/4 cup of pine nuts in the pesto for my favorite Pecorino Romano, but you could certainly use both.

The key word here is unmoderation. Apply my More, More, More philosophy with gusto when you make this, because you really can't have too much of anything here—unless of course you devour it all yourself.

Place the hot drained pasta in a large bowl. Stir some of the reserved pasta water into the pesto to thin it out, and then toss the pesto with the pasta, along with some of the fresh basil.

At this point you can either toss the pasta with lots of cherry tomatoes and more basil, or portion it out and then top each serving with the cherry tomatoes and basil. Either way, be sure to sprinkle plenty of freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan on top and pass the pepper grinder.

Sun Dried Tomato and Artichoke PestoMakes about 1½ cups of pesto, enough to toss with 8 to 16 ounces of pasta

You can quickly whip this scrumptious pesto up while the pasta water boils, or make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. It also makes a wonderful spread when mixed with cream cheese and grated Pecorino Romano. I'm looking forward to enjoying it long after tomato and basil season are over.

I've been using sun dried tomatoes packed in oil to make this, and I like to cover the rest of the tomatoes in the jar with olive oil in order to make more of the delicious tomato-flavored oil. Rehydrated dried tomatoes would probably work fine, too, though you'll probably have to add a little more olive oil.

When I have an abundance of San Marzano paste/plum tomatoes in the garden, I slice them in half and use my dehydrator to dry them, a handy item that paid for itself with dried tomatoes alone.

Combine the artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, and chopped garlic in the bowl of a food processor (I love my KitchenAid 12 cup food processor) and whiz until either smooth or still somewhat chunky, whichever you prefer. I like it best smooth, but it's also nice to have some of the sun dried tomato chunks left.

With the machine running, drizzle in the 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, adding more if desired. Salt to taste. The pesto will keep in a covered dish in the fridge for several days.

I would never get The Shepherd (Mr. Meat and Potatoes) to go for a dish like this, but he sure might like those Baby Shortbread Bites! They look yummy! You've sure been busy - hope the new barn goes up as quickly as the old one came down. Cheers, T.

Hi there, I've been following along for a little while now...salivating at your flair in the kitchen (that doesn't sound quite right...) anyhoo here's a fabulous chutney that I've made befoer and loved. Don't be put off by the LONG list of ingredients, it's worth it. The original recpie is from a local magazine and it can be found here: http://www.foodandhome.co.za/index.php?p[IGcms_nodes][IGcms_nodesUID]=41919e0c23a2dfc7e3828139040e57cb

"This chutney is a great thing to make if you’ve got more tomatoes than you need and want to keep some for a rainy day. It never lasts long in my house – a few poppadoms or a bit of toasted cheese and it’s gone! If youwant to preserve it though, make sure you sterilise your jars by rinsing them in boiling water before you start.

Method1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and throw in the tomatoes. Count to 20, tip the pan into a colander and refresh the tomatoes with cold running water.When they’re cool enough to handle, it should be easy to peel off the skin. Cut the peeled tomatoes in half, squeeze out the pips, discard them and chop theflesh into chunks. 2. Grind the clove, cumin seeds and salt in a pestle and mortar. 3. Heat a stainless-steel pot, big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a good splash of oil. Add the mustardseeds and when they pop, add theground-up spices, chilli, garlic, ginger, coriander stalks and curry leaves. Stir for a few seconds, then add the onion. Turn the heat down and cook until soft and light brown.4. Add the tomatoes and cook foranother 10 minutes until they breakdown to a mush. Add the sugar andvinegar, bring to the boil and simmer gently until thickened. 5. Taste, season with salt, pepper and some lime juice and stir in the coriander leaves. 6. Eat straight away or spoon intosterilised jars, close tightly, turn upsidedown, and leave to cool. This will preserve the chutney and it will then keep in a cool place for a month or twountil you open it.

You can serve this tomato pickle with poppadoms as a snack or as a starter with a curry, or dolloped on some hot bubbling cheese on toast!

Remember that summer you had almost no basil or tomatoes? Can't remember which it was, or if I'm mixing up the years. This is just how I love to eat thin spagetti - loads and loads of basil, salt, pepper. And that artichoke pesto? Mmmmm.

December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

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